Window construction comprising radiator housing



Oct. 18, '1932. A. c. ARMSTRONG ET AL 1,382,719

WINDOW CONSTRUCTION COMPRISING RADIATOR HOUSING Filed Feb. 7, 192 9 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Z4 2,? I I J5 ATTORNEY 7 1932- A. c. ARMSTRONG ETAL 1,882,719

WINDOW CONSTRUCTION COMPRISING RADIATOR HOUSING Filed Feb. 7. 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Oct. 18, 1932 U N l T ED STATE TE NT OFF'fC'iEiI ADDISQN c. ARMSTRONG, or BAL'IDVIORE, MARYLAND, AND AMSON'CG. when, or:

' NEW YORK, N. Y.

WINDOW CONSTRUCTION COMPRISING RADIATOR HOUSING" Application filed February 7, 1929. Serial No; 338,150.

It has been recognized for many years that radiators are unsightly, and even when covered by an enclosure,they are very much in the Way. The most advantageous place for a radiator is near awindow, and it has long been recognized that some method should be evolved whereby the radiator could be built into the wall under the window. Ordinarily, however, this is not feasible because the window-frames are set in well toward the inside of the wall to show the proper architectural reveal on=the outside of the building, and the principal weight of the windowframe is well in fromthe outside edge of the sill. This demands that the window-frame be supported directly in the masonry wall, leaving little or no space to recess the radi-' ator under the window.

The present invention overcomes this difiiculty and actually strengthens the windowframe and the firmness of its support and at the same time produces a combined windowframe and radiator housing which can be economically constructed and installed and which will permit the use of an enclosed radiator taking up very little space and which permits of ready access for making the necessary steam connections.

To acomplish this result, the wall below the window opening is formed with a recess on the inside which should be of substantial vertical depth but should be so built that the shelf forming the bottom of the'recess should be a considerable distance above the floor; for example, in an ordinary 12-inch wall this recess may extend into the wall about 4 inches and be from 8 to 12 inches deep vertically, leaving a space of the order ofabout 20 inches between the floor and the bottom of such reeess. A sill member is provided to cover this recess and this member is so shaped that it will extend both out over the wall beyond the recess and into the room well'beyond the line of the wall. Such sill member may be formed in one piece or made of two or more pieces as desired. While this sill member may be supportedat its ends, it Will have very little bearing surface on the wall, for one must remember that a space; has to be left under the outside edge of this sill member. for caulking.

In order to support and stiffen this. sill member a second sill member is provided which preferably is in the form ofa boxlike structure with a bottom which will substantially cover the shelf which formsthe bottom of the recess, a back whichv Will ex.- tend up to meet the upper sill member and sides which extend. into the room substantially as far as-the upper. sill member and which serve to stiffen the' whole structure and also support the inner edgeof the upper member. The box-like structure described is preferably firmly attached to the upper sill member as by Welding, so that the whole sill becomes a substantially integral truss like structure. However, even ifthe lower member is not welded to theupper one, the

two will cooperate to give a particularly I strong and firm support for the windowframe (for it will be supported on the wall across its entire width) and yet a space of substantial size will be provided in. which a radiator may be housed. Ina structure of this type it is intended that the radiator will extend into the room beyond the line ofthe Wall and substantially as as the sides of the box-like member, but, inasmuch as the radiator will be supported. onbrackets carried by one of the sill' members and. thereby attached directly to the Window-frame, the radiator' will be firmly held against-any leverage action tending to pull it into the room.

A front cover plate will ordinarily be pro.- v-ided. which will, run down fromthe upper sill member and connect the insidetedges of the two sides of the-box. As these sides extend into the room well beyond the line of the wall (as for example adistance of 3 or 4 inches) while the bottom should only cover thebotto'mof the recess, a space will be provided between the lower edge of the cover plate and the; face of the wall through; which cold air may enter theradiator box. An outlet for the heated: air may be made byupe'rforatin'g the upper sill or forming perfora-e tions in the upper part of the front cover plate, or both.

Ordinarily radiators are located quite close to the floor, which means that the cold air to be heated must be drawn in at right angles to its final direction of flow. This change of direction in the path of the cold air flow interferes with its movement to a surprising degree, and in order to overcome the inertia of the air, wall radiators are ordinarily made much higher than they are thick so that an efficient flue action is obtained to supply the necessary pull to draw in cold air. We have found that where the radiator is located well above the floor as described, and a path is provided so that the air can flow directly upward to the radiator, no such extended flue action is necessary, and we have further found that once the cold air is drawn into the box, it will spread out in the box, and can be deflected out through the front of the box with a very little loss of velocity. lVhile it is within the spirit of our invention to have the heat escape through perforations in the upper sill member, we have found that with the construction described, this is not necessary, but on the contrary is undesirable as the upper sill member will become so hot that contact with it may be quite painful. Where the air goes out through perforations in the front panel, such panel will tend to be heated, but if the upper ill member is formed with an overhanging flange, accidental contact with the front panel is not likely to occur, and in such case heat ing the front panel will increase the efficiency of the radiator by transmitting heat to the room by radiation as well as by convection.

' As the space arranged for housing the radiator is quite small, it is desirable to use a fin type radiator which may be heated in any desired way as by steam or electricity. By-using a radiator of this type and by arranging for the direct vertical air inlet that has been described, we find that a radiator with the necessary heating efficiency can readily be installed in the space available for a window of ordinary proportions.

Inasmuch as the radiator housing is formed as an integral part of the window-frame, the radiator and necessary'valves can all be installed at the factory, and since the housing must be made sufficiently strong to support the weight of the window-frame, this housing will protect the rather delicate fins of the radiator from being bent during shipment and installation (a danger which is one of the real drawbacks to the use of radiators of this type). After the window, including the radiator, is installed, the steam pipes may be readily connected either by bringing them up on the face of the wall so that they pass through the space immediately behind the front cover plate, or if preferred, holes may be formed in the bottom of the box and the steam pipes may be brought up in chases formed in the walls. In either case, the recess will supply adequate space to permit the pipes to be readily connected to the radiators.

For the purposes of illustration, we show in the accompanying drawings, an example of our invention as applied to a double-hung window-frame. In these drawings, Fig. 1 is a section through a portion of a wall and sill of a window; Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the lower portion of a window with parts of the front cover plate broken away; Fig. 3 is ahorizontal section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2, and Figs. 4 and 5 are horizontal sectional views showing a method of assembling a fin radiator of the type which we may use.

In the illustrative example here shown the wall 10 is indicated as the usual 12 brick wall, with the masonry sill formed of a row of bricks 12 turned up on edge. A recess having a horizontal depth equal to the width of one brick and avertical depth slightly greater than the thickness of 4 bricks is formed on the inside of the wall. Resting on the shelf 13 which forms the bottom of this recess is a plate 14 which forms the bottom of a boxlike structure having a back 16 and sides 18. In the example here shown the back 16 and sides 18 are formed of one piece of metal and the bottom 14 has one side and its ends turned up and welded to the sides of the box. t is to be noted that the bottom member 14 is of sufficient width substantially to cover the ledge at the bottom of the masonry recess and also may be made to overhang the plaster facing 20 but does not extend substantially beyond the face of the wall whereas the sides 18 extend out a substantial distance beyond the face of the plaster 20.

Above the box-like structure just described, is an upper sill member 22 which has a fiat portion extending into the room slightly further than the sides 18 and provided with a downwardly depending flange 24. The portion 26 is bent down and inwardly to make a seat for the lower sash 28 and the portion 30 extends out and partly covers the bricks 12. In this example these parts are all formed in one piece but as pointed out above they may be made in two or more sections bolted or united together. The usual space is left between the portion 30 and the bricks 12 which is filled with caulking 32.

In the present embodiment the back 16 the box structure is bent outwardly at 34 and welded to the portion 26 of the upper sill member. The side members 18 have their upper portions bent over as indicated at 36 in Fig. 2 and are welded on the underside of the sill member 22. By this construction the sill member 22 and the box-like structure are united to form a rigid integral whole which restsdirectly on the masonry shelf 13 at the bottom of the recess formedin the wall. fiennected to the upper sill member 22 in any usual way are the jambs 38 which of course are anchored in the wall. While the bottom of the jambs 38 may be partly supported in the masonry, it is obvious from Fig. 1 that the window-frame is primarily carried by the box-like member which rests on the shelf 13.

Welded to member 14 are two brackets to support pip-es 42 of the radiator. The brackets 40 each carry a pivoted bar 44 adapted to be bolted down as indicated at 46 to hold the radiator firmly in place in the structure. A front cover plate 48 is attached by screws 50 (see Fig. 3) to the sides 18, leaving a gap between the lower edge. of the cover plate 48 and bottom member 14. As has already been pointed out, it is preferable to have the heated air pass out through the cover plate 48. Accordingly, there is supplied adeflector 54 in the box, and openings 56 in the upper portion of the cover plate. If desired, insulation 58 may be placed underneath the sill member 22 so that the latter will not become too hot.

The radiator here illustrated comprises the two pipes 42 which are united together at their ends by headers 60 and 62. A ma1n control valve 64 is connected to header 60 and is sup plied with a control handle 66 attached to a stem 68 which passes up through Slll mem:

, her 22. The valve 64 is provided with a union 70 for the ready connection to a steam inlet pipe 7 2 which is here shown as brought up along the face of the wall. A drip valve 74 is connected to header 62 and is provided with a union 7 6 for ready connection to the return pipe 78.

Mounted on the pipes 42 are a serles of fins which are preferably formed in the general shape shown in Fig. 1, for we have found that having these plates extend-back into the lower corner of the box gives the maximum efficiency for the minimum amount of metal used in the fins. This is of some importance commercially, for the fins 80 and pipes 42 are preferably formed of a metal having a relatively high factor of heat conductivity such as copper. he vertical edges of the fins 80 are preferably bent over as indicated in Figs. 4 and 5 so that these fins will be kept properly spaced and not bent together by accidental contacts.

It is important that the fins 80, make very close contact with the pipe 42. One method of combining the fins and pipes is illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5. According to this method, each fin 80 is formed with a hole the size of a pipe 42 and around this hole is formed a corrugated groove 82. A stop ring 84 is screwed on one end of each pipe 42, and a fin 80 is then passed over the two pipes with the convex side of the groove 82 against the stop ring 84. A collar 86 having its corner cut away is then slipped over each pipe 42 v.

and compressed toward stop ring 84. This flattens out the groove 82 contracting the metal of fins 80 about the pipe 42 and catching the edge of this metal under the cut-off corner of collar 86. A second fin 80 is then fitted to the pipes, another pair of collars 86 put-on and the operation continued until the entire number of fins is in place. The headers 60 and 62 are then connected, and the radiator is complete. If preferred, the grooves 82 may be flattened out by an appropriate tool and the collars 86 pressed on after each such flattening is accomplished.

As aradiator of this type is very susceptible to damage, it is advisable to attach the valves and unions in the shop and anchor the radiator in place in its box by the bars 44. Since the box comprising the bottom 14 and theback 16 and sides 18 must be made heavy enough to support the window, these members will protect the radiator both during shipment and installation. i Once the window is installed, it is a very simple matter for the steam-fitter to connect the risers to the unions, so that a minimum of field labor will be necessary.

It is to be understood that the example given is byway of illustration only, and may be modified in many particulars without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What we claim is:

v 1. In combination with a wall having a window opening and a recess in the inside of the wall below such opening, a sill member adapted to cover said recess and extend both out over the wall beyond said recess and into the room beyond the face of the wall, and a second sill member below said first sill member rigidly connected with said first sill member and extending down to the bottom of said recess and resting on the wall, whereby the window-frame is supported on the wall and a recess is provided under the upper sill member for housing a radiator.

2. In combination with a wall having a window opening and a. recess in the inside of the wall below said opening, a radiator housing in said recess resting on the bottom thereof comprising a bottom extending in not substantially beyond the face of the wall below such recess and side members which do extend in substantially beyond the face of the wall below such recess, a sill member comprising part of a window-frame resting on and rigidly connected with the sides of said housing covering said recess and extending out beyond the recess and in beyond the side members of the housing, and a removable cover-plate for the front of the housing.

3. In combination with a metal windowframe, a sheet metal radiator enclosure adapted to support a radiator, said enclosure having an upper portion adapted to serve as a portion of the sill of the window-frame, a bottom, and sides rigidly connecting said bottom to said upper portion, whereby said enclosure is adapted to support said windowframe in a Wall across substantiallyits entire width, an air outlet near the topof said enclosure and an air inlet at the bottom thereof for admitting'air from the roomside of thewindow, and a removable front cover plate therefor.

4. In a metal window-frame construction, two horizontal sill members rigidly connected together with a substantial space be- 7 tween them, whereby a rigid base is obtained for the window-frame and a space is vprovided in which a radiator can be housed. a removable cover-plate for the front of such space, a lower inlet at the bottom of such space for admitting air from the room and an upper outlet for heated air to escape from such space into the room.

ADDISON C. ARMSTRONG. AMSON G. ILLOHV 

